Nora Stopford
Text Nelson Thornes Distance Learning 2010 Illustrations Nelson Thornes Distance Learning 2010 All rights reserved. The copyright holders authorise ONLY users of NTDL A2 French to make photocopies for their own or their students immediate use within the teaching context. No other rights are granted without permission in writing from the publisher or under licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited, of Saffron House, 610 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Copy by any other means or for any purpose is strictly prohibited without prior consent from the copyright holders. Applications for such permission should be addressed to the publisher. Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. First edition published in 2009. This edition published in 2010 by: Nelson Thornes Distance Learning Delta Place 27 Bath Road CHELTENHAM GL53 7TH United Kingdom 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 Printed in Great Britain by Berforts Group Nelson Thornes Distance Learning would like to thank all copyright holders for their kind permission to reproduce copyright materials. Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders and we apologise if any have been overlooked. Should copyright have been unwittingly infringed in these course notes, the owners should contact the publishers, who will make the correction at reprint.
Introduction
A2 French
Introduction
Welcome to your Nelson Thornes Distance Learning course for A2 General Certificate of Education in French. You have been given this course because you already have a good French GCSE, Standard Grade or equivalent, you have studied French at AS Level and you want to study for A2 Level; and, most importantly, because you are considered capable of studying independently. This course will guide you through your studies and will help you to prepare for your examination, which will be certificated by the AQA examination board. In this introduction, you will find out more about: 1. How to learn a language at a distance 2. The specification for your examination, i.e. the skills, topics and test-types that you will have to work on 3. Your programme of study for this year 4. The grammar you will need to know by the end of the year 5. Your course materials 6. Your video conference tutorials 7. Visits 8. Course activities (activits) 9. Work schedule 10. Contact details Bonne chance!
1. Distance learning
For the majority of this course, you will be undertaking supported self-study. This means that although your study will be guided and supported by your distance learning French Tutor and your in-school Link Tutor, essentially you will be studying independently. However, you will not be on your own: you will have regular tutorials with your distance-learning tutor over the video conference link. He or she will visit you in your school/college twice during the year, and you will be encouraged to keep in contact with your tutor regularly via e-mail. It is likely that you will be studying with a group of fellow students in your school, but even if not, although this learning method is classed as distance learning, you should not feel isolated
Introduction
because your tutor will have other students doing the same course in other schools or colleges. For you to work effectively as an independent learner you must take the following into account: a) You have to be self-motivated. You know you have a good level of self-motivation already, otherwise you wouldnt have been offered this course. Having a compelling reason to complete a course will serve to motivate and help you avoid things that distract you from your study. The important thing will be to keep up your motivation until the end. Remember that the A Level French qualification is important as part of your life plan, otherwise you wouldnt have chosen to do it. Keep your ultimate goal in mind all the time (Going to university? Learning a language that will help you find a job? Enjoying your holidays more? Working in a French-speaking country?). b) You have to take more responsibility for your own learning. There will not be a teacher in your school constantly chasing you if you havent prepared your weeks work, havent emailed last weeks homework, or have failed to learn essential vocabulary for a new topic or to do some research on the Internet. No excuses, its up to you! You will be guided in your studies by the Student Course Materials (the pack you are holding at the moment), but at the end of the day, it is up to you to get down to learning French. Self-discipline is essential for you to succeed. For example, in this folder you have access to transcripts for the CD recordings on which many activities are based. Being responsible for your own learning means not looking at the transcript until youve listened to a recording several times. If you cheat, youre only cheating yourself, at the end of the day! c) The key lies in being organised. Here are a few pointers: Learn to manage your time well. You are expected to study for about 8 hours a week for approximately 30 weeks. There are 37 units in this course, in addition to this introductory unit. As soon as youve got your timetable for your other subjects, you can start scheduling those hours in and writing them down in your work planner. Be realistic in your expectations (you need holidays too!) and be sure to get off to a prompt start, because it can be difficult to make up for lost time later on. When learning a language, building useful vocabulary is crucial. Buy yourself a large vocabulary book, and note down new language as you go along. Dont attempt to note it down alphabetically: it is better to organise it by topic. Individual words and phrases can fit into various topics, of course: write the same words or expressions down under as many different headings as you need to. It will also be more effective to note things down in context, for example by noting down a phrase using the word rather than just the word or expression itself. Try to collect language as short phrases rather than single words, e.g. raliser une ambition to achieve an ambition, rather than just raliser to achieve, to realise; the advantage is obvious learning a word in context. If there are certain non-topic-specific words you find difficult to remember, you could build up a hit-list of these words, and to learn or revise them copy a few in large letters onto a piece of A4 paper; stick it next to your mirror, and learn them when combing or brushing your hair. Other ideas to help you learn vocabulary, and further study skills, are given after this Introduction. Buy yourself a good bilingual dictionary, for instance the Collins-Robert English French / FrenchEnglish dictionary. Get to know it inside out; it will become your best friend and you will be virtually inseparable during the course! Remember that, a lot of the time, you will need access to a CD player, either at school or at home, or access to the online listening materials. You need to be comfortable
Introduction
surfing the Internet, and be reasonably proficient at ICT and keyboarding skills. Bear that in mind when you prepare your schedule in your work planner. When setting up your own PC to write French with the necessary accents, the easiest way to produce accents for French is as follows: 1. Within a Word file, click on Insert. 2. Go to Symbol. 3. Select normal text: in this window you should see all the characters you need. 4. Highlight a character you need, select Shortcut key, and allocate e.g. Ctrl or Alt plus a similar character, e.g. Alt + e for , Ctrl + a for , Alt + n for and so on. 5. Click on Assign, then close each window and try out your shortcut. This method may not work in other word-processing programmes such as e-mail and Powerpoint, or within language CD-Roms or language learning activities on the internet. In this case, or if you are using a PC which is not your own, or if you simply prefer it, use the key-stroke combinations below. There are others, but this is the quickest and easiest such method we know, and seems very reliable, even on a laptop. Engage number lock, press Alt + the following number codes on the right side of the keyboard: 133 147 131 148 160 153 132 151 138 150 136 130 129 137 135 144 128 140 174 139 175
Introduction
show knowledge of and apply accurately the grammar and syntax prescribed in the specification Weighting: 23% In addition, you have to demonstrate an understanding of register (an awareness of how you use different language according to who you are communicating with, and for what purpose) and an ability to give and justify your own opinions. b) Scheme of assessment Dictionaries are not allowed in any of the exams. FREN 3 (Listening, Reading and Writing) 2 hours 70% FREN 4 (Speaking Test) 35 minutes (including 20 mins preparation time) 30% c) Topic areas Module A Environment: Pollution, Energy, Protecting the planet Module B The multicultural society: Immigration, Integration, Racism Module C Contemporary social issues: Wealth and poverty, Law and order, Impact of scientific and technological progress Module D Cultural topic: Candidates choose two of the five topics. They will write about one in the first part of the exam, and will discuss both topics in the speaking test. A French-speaking region/community A period of 20th-century history from a French-speaking country/community The work of an author from a French-speaking country/community The work of a dramatist or poet from a French-speaking country/community The work of a director, architect, musician or painter from a French-speaking country/community For details of how all the above topics are explored, see pages 35 of your Nelson Thornes AQA AS French textbook, and see also the table below in section 3, Your programme of study. d) Exam papers There will be two parts to your A2 French examination: FREN 3 Listening, Reading and Writing A 2 hour exam. The listening section will be based on three, four or five authentic audio extracts, which might include informal conversation, short interviews or news reports. You will have individual, personal CD players and will be able to go back and listen as much as you like to the audio extracts within the overall time limit for the paper (2 hours). The reading
Introduction
section will be based on up to four reading passages taken from newspapers, magazines and advertisements. For both listening and reading, the question types will assess understanding of general sense and specific detail, and will include: responding to questions about the audio material in English responding to questions about the audio and reading material in French non-verbal responses (e.g. true/false/not mentioned, multiple choice, filling in numbers) These are followed by a grammatical exercise which will require you to complete sentences by putting the correct form and spelling of a verb or adjective into each gap in the sentence. Finally, there will be an essay on a choice of questions on the cultural topics. The essay question will be a written task in French (no word limit) based on an essay question; there will be two questions set for each of the five cultural topics. FREN 4 Speaking Test 35 minutes (including 20 minutes preparation time) Part 1 Discussion of a stimulus card Before you start, you will be offered two stimulus cards, each offering two opposing points of view on an aspect of one of the A2 topics. You choose one to prepare for 20 minutes, adopting one of the points of view on the card. You will be allowed to make notes to take into the actual exam. The examiner will take the opposite viewpoint to the one you choose; when you present your point of view, you will need to defend and justify it to the examiner. Part 2 Conversation The second part of the test will consist of ten minutes of conversation on both of the cultural topics you have studied. Approximately five minutes will be spent discussing each of your two cultural two topics All oral tests are recorded and sent away for marking.
Introduction
Topics
Getting to know the A2 French course
Topic objectives
Grammar
Skills
page no.
Intro
L'environnement
1 La pollution
Talk about different types, causes and effects of pollution Explore measures to reduce pollution Discuss individual and collective action Describe transport issues related to pollution
Use present and past tenses of the passive voice Use modal verbs
12
Present alternatives
14
L'environnement
2 L'nergie
Talk about the different sources of fossil fuels Discuss the role of nuclear energy in France
17
Discuss the need for renewable energy sources Explore changing attitudes to energy consumption
Revise present and conditional forms (to express necessity) Use verbs followed by an infinitive
Express necessity, consequence and contrast Evaluate lifestyle using alternative forms of energy
20
22
L'environnement
3 Protection de la plante
Describe the impact of consumerism on the environment and explore how to change behaviour Examine the role of pressure groups and their initiatives to promote awareness
25
28
Introduction
30
La societ multiculturelle
4 L'immigration
10
Explore the reasons for immigration Talk about government policy to curb immigration Discuss the benefits and problems of immigration
Revise numbers
33
11
36
12
38
La societ multiculturelle
5 L'intgration
13
A Multiculturalisme
Talk about factors facilitating integration Discuss which culture immigrants should show loyalty to
Use conjunctions
Express wellinformed and sophisticated opinions in a debate Give precise descriptions using complex sentences Express obligation and support someone's rights
41
14
Consider factors making integration difficult Talk about the experiences of individual immigrants
Use demonstrative pronouns: celui, celle, ceux, celles Use relative pronouns with prepositions: dans lequel, auquel, duquel, dont
44
15
46
La societ multiculturelle
6 Le racisme
16
A Raciste, moi?
Discuss the reasons for racism Talk about discrimination in employment and education
Use possessive pronouns Revise present and past tenses of the passive voice
49
17
B Discrimination
52
Introduction
18
C Victimes
54
19
Talk about wealth and poverty including links to health and social unrest Discuss the causes of poverty in Europe and developing countries Discuss debt and aid programmes in developing countries
Adapt others' opinions to express your own Construct dialogues using various sources Adapt online text and data for presentations
57
20
60
21
62
22
Discuss crime, especially among young people Talk about reasons for criminal and antisocial behaviour
65
23
B La criminalit en baisse?
Use infinitive constructions (revisited) Use the future tense of the passive voice
Combine data with opinions in debates and presentations Consider the values society holds on major issues
68
24
C Crime et chtiment
70
25
A Diagnostic: informatique
Summarise opposing views and draw balanced conclusions Make and counter controversial statements about contentious issues Use anticipation and nuance to advance debates
73
26
B On va o exactement?
76
27
Discuss ethical issues relating to scientific, technological and medical progress and research
78
Introduction
Dossier culturel 28
Introduction An introduction to the cultural topic; ideas to help you decide which topics to study and research The concepts and vocabulary needed to study a region in French The concepts and vocabulary needed to study a Frenchspeaking country or region The concepts and vocabulary needed to study a period of the 20th-century history of France The concepts and vocabulary needed to study a period of the 20th-century history of France The concepts and vocabulary needed to study a Frenchspeaking novelist or short-story writer The concepts and vocabulary needed to study a Frenchspeaking novelist or short-story writer The concepts and vocabulary needed to study a French dramatist The concepts and vocabulary needed to study a French poet Selection, evaluation and decision-making skills Research, planning, speaking and writing skills Research, planning, speaking and writing skills Research, planning, speaking and writing skills Research, planning, speaking and writing skills Research, planning, speaking and writing skills Research, planning, speaking and writing skills Research, planning, speaking and writing skills Research, planning, speaking and writing skills Research, planning, speaking and writing skills Research, planning, speaking and writing skills 81
29
82
30
84
31
86
32
88
33
90
34
92
35
94
36
96
37
The concepts and vocabulary needed to study an artist, architect, musician or filmdirector from a French-speaking country or region The concepts and vocabulary needed to study an artist, architect, musician or filmdirector from a French-speaking country or region
98
38
100
Introduction
4. Grammar
The lists below, taken from the AQA 2009 specification, set out the grammar you will be expected to know by the end of your year of study. At A2 you need to know the grammar points in both the AS and the A2 lists. For structures marked (R), receptive knowledge only is required. French Advanced Subsidiary (AS) Nouns: gender, singular and plural forms Articles: definite, indefinite and partitive Adjectives: agreement position comparative and superlative demonstrative (ce, cet, cette, ces) indefinite (chaque, quelque) possessive interrogative (quel, quelle) Adverbs: comparative and superlative interrogative (comment, quand) Quantifiers/intensifiers (trs, assez, beaucoup) Pronouns: personal subject object: direct and indirect position and order reflexive relative (qui, que) relative: lequel, auquel, dont (R) object: direct and indirect disjunctive/emphatic demonstrative (celui) (R) indefinite (quelquun)
10
Introduction
possessive (le mien) (R) interrogative (qui, que) interrogative (quoi) (R) use of y, en Verbs: regular and irregular verbs, including reflexive verbs modes of address (tu, vous) impersonal verbs verbs followed by an infinitive (with or without a preposition) dependent infinitives (faire rparer) (R) perfect infinitive negative forms interrogative forms tenses: present perfect (including agreement of past participle) imperfect future conditional future perfect (R) conditional perfect (R) pluperfect past historic (R) passive voice: present tense other tenses (R) imperative present participle subjunctive mood: present (common uses, eg after expressions of possibility, necessity, obligation, and after conjunctions such as bien que) Indirect speech Inversion after speech (R) Prepositions Conjunctions Number, quantity and time (including use of depuis, venir de)
11
Introduction
12
Introduction
need to refer to them during video conference tutorials. If for whatever reason you cannot get access to the internet, ask a friend to print one off for you or photocopy a classmates copy. Other online materials are interactive activities: you read or listen to the extract, do the related activities online and get immediate feedback, including page references to the coursebook to help you revise specific points. In most cases, you cannot save your answers to interactive activities. For the oral exercises it would be good to work with another student in your learning group, but if this is not possible then you should find a place on your own and develop the knack of talking aloud in French. This may feel strange at first, but you will get used to it and you do need to practise your oral skills in your independent study time and not just during the video conference sessions. You may like to get a French-speaking penfriend. Contact your tutor for suggestions on how to do this. You cannot learn a language just from a few schoolbooks. It is essential to read as widely as possible books, newspapers and magazines in French can often be found in bookshops, public libraries or the school library or in e-form on the internet. The Authentique en franais magazines and audio tapes/CDs, which your school may subscribe to, will provide very useful extra reading and listening. You should, of course, make the most of web resources recommended by your tutor; for a start, follow the news by logging on regularly to a good French newspaper website. For example, the website www.lemonde.fr is excellent, not just French and world news and sport, but also to enable you to keep up with the latest gossip on your favourite stars! You may also find the websites listed below useful for developing your language skills. They are intended as a useful starting point; you should experiment and pursue your own research to find suitable websites that you find helpful. General www.cilt.org.uk www.all-languages.org.uk http://europa.eu/ http://www.hull.ac.uk/ict4lt http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/ http://education.guardian.co.uk/languageresources/ articles from the Guardian http://www.linguanet-europa.org/plus/en/home.jsp language and language learning http://www.well.ac.uk/ http://www.languagesonline.org.uk http://zut.languageskills.co.uk/index.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page http://www.verbs-online.com/ http://www.vocabulix.com/ http://babelfish.altavista.com/
A2 French Nelson Thornes Distance Learning 2010
National Centre for Languages Assoc. for Language Learning EU website univ site, material and links language and culture info, BBC
using IT in language learning language exercises language exercises grammar/culture (search by language) conjugation trainer conjugation trainer online translator use with care!
13
Introduction
http://www.worldlingo.com/en/products_services/worldlingo_translator.html an alternative online translator www.tranexp.com French search engines http://aliceadsl.fr/ http://www.i3d.qc.ca/ http://www.voila.fr/ http://www.google.fr/ http://fr.yahoo.com/ News / Politics http://www.lemonde.fr/ http://www.premier-ministre.gouv.fr/ www.elysee.fr www.interieur.gouv.fr www.justice.gouv.fr www.insee.fr www.travail.gouv.fr www.industrie.gouv.fr www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french/news/ Current and ongoing news with notes and audio files for intermediate language learners; and guide to accessing French TV. French TV http://www.tf1.fr www.francetelevisions.fr http://info.francetelevisions.fr http://www.comfm.com/ Magazines http://www.lingualearn.co.uk Authentik en franais: info on buying the magazines live TV and videos access to free TV/video, e.g. France 2, 3, 4, 5, etc via this! live radio, TV and videos le Monde newspaper online Prime Minister President Interior Ministry law and legal system national statistics work industry access to French sites access to French sites access to French sites French version of Google French version of Yahoo another online translator
14
Introduction
Culture http://www.culture.fr www.saint-exupery.org www.montparnasse.net www.environnement.gouv.fr www.letour.fr www.cidj.asso.fr www.education.gouv.fr www.sante.gouv.fr Language http://french.about.com/ Grammar websites www.languagesonline.org.uk http://www.ashcombe.surrey.sch.uk/Curriculum/modlang/french/index_fr_video.htm Online dictionaries www.wordreference.com www.babelfish.altavista.com/ AQA site for exam information www.aqa.org.uk culture / language French culture literature art Louvre environment Le Tour de France young people education health system
15
Introduction
the week to carry out these activities then contact your tutor via e-mail. Arriving at the VC session with the excuse of I didnt understand so I havent done it is not good enough! You will have two VC tutorials per week. You should not see these as taught lessons in the traditional sense. They will be characterised as follows: Your opportunity to ask non-urgent questions and for explanations of tricky grammar points Your opportunity to ask for help or advice on your own research, for example in connection with your oral exam topics Your opportunity to get together with the group and compare notes Your opportunity to show your understanding of the weeks work Your opportunity to show off your oral French in the context of what you have learnt that week Your opportunity to hear spontaneous French and practise your listening skills Your opportunity to monitor your own progress via the feedback you receive from the tutor The tutors opportunity to monitor your progress, check your understanding, and give you feedback and encouragement Essentially, as you can see, video conferencing is your time and as such you must make the most of it. Take note of the following: Dos Do make sure that you speak loudly enough for the tutor to hear you clearly Do participate fully; you will learn little by being a passenger! Do be extrovert your tutor prefers you to be outgoing rather than a mouse! Do come to the VC session dying to talk (in French of course!) about your prepared work Do sit as close as you can to the VC microphone and webcam Donts Dont be shy Dont speak in a quiet voice Dont treat it like a lecture where you just listen
7. Visits
Your tutor will visit you twice during the school year. These visits are an important part of the course, so you must make every effort to be there when your tutor visits; when your tutor mentions that he or she is planning a visit soon, do tell him/her of any days you expect to be away from school, such as visiting a university; your tutor will then try to avoid those days when planning his/her itinerary of visits. These visits are an excellent opportunity for you and your tutor to meet and get to know each other, and they should be enjoyable for you and your tutor. There will also be the opportunity for you to speak to your tutor in confidence if you want to. The visits will usually last for two to three hours and during this time your tutor will want to do the following:
16
Introduction